Page 16 of The Last Time You Break Me

I was done playing games. I either had my seat or I burned the house to the ground around it.

It was time I made it,thatsimple.

When I got to his office, I knocked and waited for him to call me in. I wanted this to go smoothly and coming in all guns blazing would only taunt his temper to mix with mine. I may have some anger issues, but I got them all from my dad.

Like father, like daughter and all that.

Our mom passed when I turned nineteen. A year after my heartbreak. More sorrow to add to the vault. That broke me too. In more ways than I was capable to explain. Everyone tried to be there, even Reg. But I pushed them all away.

I blamed Reg for why I became cold and honestly, that was only half of it.

It was the day my mother was taken and sent back to us in pieces by one of our rivals that changed everything. That was when I began to drown in the darkness instead of fighting to keep it at bay. I sacrificed my soul to the devil that night.

And I didn’t mean my father.

I gave myself to the demon inside my heart and he had saved me every day since.

Having the ability to disassociate may not be healthy, but it was the only way I had survived.

That was the first war I had ever seen. My dad lost his mind during that time.

He didn’t just burn the rivals responsible, he burned down everyone who associated with them and then some.

He destroyed everything in the name of love.

It was why I was here today, fighting for my spot at the table.

It was always an option for me to join, had I been his only child it would have been non-negotiable. But I wasn’t, I was the youngest and he had promised my mother he would give me a way out.

But when I asked for it, he agreed with vengeance in his heart.

He made a promise to her he couldn’t keep through his grief. Now he works to hold a promise that he had made to me.

A promise which allowed me the right to choose.

“Come in,” he answered from the other side of the golden-toned door. His voice sounded tired, weary and heavily weighted by something plaguing him.

I opened the heavy oak door and pushed my way inside. “Dad?”

“Lara, come in, my love. I just got word that you may have broken Reggie’s nose. Is this true?” he asked with a darkly raised eyebrow and something that looked like amusement bright in his green eyes.

“I did. He was being intolerable,” I responded truthfully as I took a seat opposite him.

“Uh, yes. He seems to say the same about you.”

“Does he now,” I drawled as I tried to keep my tone even.

“He does. What it is between the two of you that ignites like friction against steel, I will never know. But he only has your best interests at heart. I need to know you’re prepared. That you can handle this and he’s the man to make sure that happens.” I didn’t respond to that, instead, I watched him keenly. “Which is why I will be partnering him up with you on some assignments. You get the seat, love, you earned it. But this is the stipulation. Where he goes, you go.”

“Can’t I have Drilly instead?” I questioned with protest as I leaned forward in my high-backed, diamond-encrusted leather chair.

My father sighed and shook his head in disappointment. “No, love, you can’t. He got his name for a reason. That’s why his role is in the torture department.”

“Yeah, I get that. But it would be fun. Pairing a psycho with a psycho.” I got chills just thinking about it. The blood. The gore. Oh, fun times.

“No, Lara, I believe the word you’re looking for is catastrophic.”

I chuckled and conceded because he was right, it would be.

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